Martinic ‘Kee Bass’: A Free Virtual Instrument that emulates The Rheem Kee Bass monophonic string bass keyboard from the ‘60s
'Kee Bass' is a free virtual instrument VST/AU plugin that faithfully emulates one of the first monophonic string bass simulators, the Rheem Kee Bass. It was initially released in October 2019 by Martinic, a Dutch company developing software instruments and effects. This plugin brings some groovy, bassy vibes back from the 1960s as well as modern features such as an extended key-range, a filter, and modulation.
Kee Bass emulates the solid-state electronic circuitry of the Rheem Kee Bass. There are no samples used in the sound. Instead, the plugin uses physical modeling to reproduce the sonic characteristics of the original unit. This makes for a thick, analog bass sound that is fun and rewarding to play.
The plugin interface is based on the design of the Rheem Kee Bass, and features a two-octave keyboard. However, the Kee Bass covers the full 128 MIDI note range. There is also a bass-boost control slider, a bypass switch, and a set of four switches for selecting Tone, Fuzz, Sustain and Decay modes.
The Bass Booster level controls the level of the low end. Pushing it forward will fully round out the sound and give it extra bass strength. The Tone switch allows you to choose between Mellow and Bright settings. Mellow is a low, rounded tone, while Bright adds bite and clarity to the sound. Turning on the Fuzz switch will add distortion to the Kee Bass, attenuating the low-end and emphasizing the mid-range frequencies. The Mode switch controls the sustain of the notes that you play on the Kee Bass. On the Sustain setting, pressing a key will play a note until you lift your finger, while on the Percuss setting, the notes will fade away shortly after pressing a key. The Decay switch controls how quickly the note will fade away when set to Percuss mode.
Martinic engineers have added some extra features to the plugin that were not present on the original device. The Martinic Kee Bass can be played polyphonically. In the Settings tab, you will find controls for low-pass filtering, with LFO and envelope control. In addition, there is a set of MIDI controls which includes, velocity sensitivity and low/high/last note priority, plus further keyboard tuning and transposition tools. Therefore, Kee Bass allows you to shape a sound from the past with tools from the present.
Features
Retro Bass Tones
Physical modeling of vintage Rheem Kee Bass (no sample used)
Bass Fuzz sound - built in
Percussion - Fast decay
Percussion - Slow decay
Sustain
Bright-Mellow option on all sounds
Full 2-Octave Keboard
Modeled Solid State Electronic Circuitry
2.5MB Portable Lightweight Beauty
Compatible with any VST/AU host for Windows 7+ and MacOS 10.9+ (32-bit & 64-bit)
Modern Features
Level adjust
Adjustable 25-note tuning
Extended 128 MIDI note range
Velocity-sensitive
Pitch bend +/-2 semitones
All settings MIDI learnable
Poly mode
Low/High/Last note priority
Attack/Decay adjust
Low pass filter with resonance
Filter LFO/Envelope modulation
Wide range of presets
Fine tuning
Transpose/Octave shift
Price
Free
*In order to get the free copy of Kee Bass, click the ‘ORDER NOW’ button on the “Claim your free license!” section of the product page. After completing the checkout process, you will receive a license key file. Then download the Kee Bass installer from the “Free trial” section of the product page, and save it in the same folder as the license key file. Then run the installer, and enable the “License Key” option in the installer.
Martinic was founded in Schagen, The Netherlands, in 1993 as a software and IT solutions provider. Since 2010, we have specialized in developing software instruments and effects for musicians and producers. And, in 2016 we began releasing audio plugins commercially under our own brand, beginning with the Scanner Vibrato virtual effect plugin. All of the plugins the Martinic team has developed use our state-of-the-art circuit modeling process known as ACE — Advanced Circuitry Emulation. This proprietary method was developed by our team to accurately recreate both analog and digital circuitry for the purpose of modeling vintage musical instruments and effects with incredible precision. Plugins powered by ACE are not sample libraries; they are designed with faithfully recreated components that are brought to life in the software realm.
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